


The Making of My Son

by Vidori_Sensei



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Buff Idabashi, Character Death, Gen, I made Idabashi's first name Tetsuya, Idabashi gets injured, Idabashi's POV, K1-B0 spelled as Kiibo, Kiibo's backstory, Professor Idabashi's Backstory, Swearing, i dont even know why I'm tagging this, just not an excessive amount, the making of K1-B0
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-19 01:10:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15498942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vidori_Sensei/pseuds/Vidori_Sensei
Summary: I knew pretty young that I wasn't a people person. However, in undergrad, I met a graphics design major that changed my world. We wanted to make the most advanced robot yet.





	1. The Idea

**Author's Note:**

> As said in the tags, this is written from Professor Idabashi's point of view. This is a story of how we got the Kiibo we know now. Please enjoy!

I knew pretty young I wasn’t a people person.

I would always stick close to my mother in any social situations and I always read books during recess. Science fiction ones, of course. The dystopian or utopian futures full of new technology and ideas made me hungry to know more. At a young age, I started taking apart old and new electronics, learning how they all work and function. My mother eventually had to tell me to stop when she came home to me disassembling the refrigerator with groceries all over the floor.

Sometime when I was in high school, I started lifting weights before studying, since I noticed that it helped me concentrate. It didn’t help me talk to people much, but it did give me a little more confidence and kept bullies away. As soon as high school was over, I went to go study mechanical engineering at the top college in the country able to bench press 200 pounds. It was then that I started to make small robots, and after that I began double majoring, adding on electrical engineering, and building more prototypes to get grants.

And then somewhere in there, in that mess and during grad school, I came up with the idea for Kiibo.

I ran out of my room and banged on the door of my close friend, a graphics design major. 

“Himari, Himari! Come out, I gotta tell you something!”

The door swung open to reveal a messy room and a girl in a tank top and basketball shorts.

“Tetsuya, it is three in the fucking morning, what do you want?” Her brown hair cascaded over her tired, blue eyes. That image remains so clear in my head, no matter how much time goes by.

“I need you to design a robot!” I bounced on the balls of my feet, though whether that was through having excess energy or an attempt to keep myself awake is beyond me.

“Isn’t that your job?” Himari yawned. I grabbed her hands.

“Please! You can make it look super cool! And you know more about human anatomy than I!” She opened up her eyes and took a step back.

“You’re gonna make it humanoid? Like an android? You’ve never been interested in that before,” she questioned, leaning against her door frame.

“It’s gonna be groundbreaking, please help me!” I pleaded, leaning in over her. Man, she was so short. She rolled her eyes and pulled me into her room. 

“You better make this thing perfect,” she chuckled.

“Him, I’m gonna make him perfect.”

“Gonna go with a male aesthetic? How far you gonna take this?” she smirked, already grabbing a large pad of paper and a pencil. I sighed.

“No genitals please, I don’t want that on my conscience yet.”

“That’s only because you don’t have any.”

“Himari!”

And with that we spent the rest of the night and the early hours of the morning roughing out Kiibo’s design and making countless jokes.

“What’s with the lines down the face?” I asked. She rolled her eyes.

“Aesthetic, Tetsuya, the thing you asked me to do. We have to use some sort of marker to let people know it’s a robot. Too humanistic and you wind up in the uncanny valley. Also, it looks cool,” she grinned.

“Also, it looks cool,” I mocked, “I didn’t know I was hiring an expert here.”

“You didn’t even hire me, you just came to me room and bothered me at three AM!” she laughed and pushed my shoulder, picking up the newest and most cohesive design. “Although, for an on the spot design, I think we did pretty good!”

I took a good look at it. Blue eyes, white hair, prominent eyebrows, 5’3”. And it was going to take so long to build.

“When are you gonna get started on it?” she asked, glancing between me and the paper. I put it down and ran a hand through my hair.

“Probably not for a while, until I graduate, y’know?” I got promptly smacked in the arm.

“You woke me up at three in the morning to design something you’re not gonna build for another YEAR???” Himari screamed, only to be met with banging from the other side of the wall. I felt genuine fear.

“I was afraid I was gonna lose the idea if we didn’t do it now! A-and besides, look how good this design is!” I held the paper in front of my face as she held a very threatening screwdriver above my head. Her gaze got darker.

“You are buying me coffee and whatever snacks I want from six am to noon for the rest of the month, no questions asked, do I make myself clear?” The screwdriver got closer to my head.

“VERY!”

She put down the screwdriver and put on her black flats. “Alright then, get ready to be broke! I want a double-shot espresso for now and an iced caramel latte to take to trig later.”

“It’s 7:40, Himari…” I started to sweat, with not having slept all night I didn’t even know if I could get up off the floor. Her terrifying gaze fixed that.

“Did you agree or should I rip up this draft right now?” Her voice was low and cold as she reached over and pinched the paper.

“We’re going!”

I bought her a lot of coffee and donuts for the rest of said month.

Funnily enough, she seemed much more entranced by the idea then I did as time went on. It became one of her favorite things to doodle in her notebooks and even in her sketchbooks sometimes. A lot of the things she’d say to me in passing were about him. 

“Okay but imagine if we could give him an arm cannon!”

“What if he gets all upset when he thinks you’re insulting robots?”

“Do you think he’ll be friends with your other robots or will he know he’s above them. He’ll know, right?”

“Who’s gonna be his first friend? Are you gonna make him a sibling? Or is that not allowed?”

One day she stopped me and said something that still rings through my head.

“Hey, I know you have an emergency stop button, but shouldn’t you lower his strength?”

I stopped and clutched my electromagnetics book closer. “What?”

She looked aside and then back to me, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Listen, I was bored in physics and actually ran some of the math for his grip strength and other limb strengths and…” her voice trailed off as she grabbed my free hand. “Listen, I believe in you and all, but I’ve seen you run prototypes, sometimes they go off the rails... and this one could cause actual damage. Don’t get yourself hurt, okay?”

I sighed. “I know what I’m doing, it’ll be fine, I swear.” Himari let go of my hand.

“If you know what you’re doing, then I’ll let it slide. I can’t have you inconveniencing our robot son, who still doesn’t have a name by the way,” she smirked.

“Our son?” I questioned, leaning in over her, “Are you planning on building him with me?”

“I designed his entire exoskeleton and you’re gonna say he’s not me son, too?” she giggled, setting down her books and wrapping her arms around my neck. I smirked.

“Absolutely not.”

We kissed.


	2. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tetsuya Idabashi and Himari give Kiibo a name and have a wedding.

Two weeks before graduation, I was slumped over an advanced calculus textbook in the library when Himari slammed her hands down in front of me. I barely moved.

“Tetsu, I got it!”

“What, you finished your thesis art piece?” I mumbled, taking my first sip of coffee that day, considering it was 12:15 AM. 

“No, his name! We never gave him a name and it’s driving me NUTS!” Her fists slammed into the table again and no one else bothered to turn and look.

“You’re lucky I’m not on the quiet floor, Himi,” I droned as I rested my head in my hand. It was not going to stay upright otherwise.

“His name should be Kiibo!” she exclaimed, ignoring my comment. My eyebrows drew together in confusion.

“Kiibo? Why’s that?” I asked, actually gaining enough energy to sit up.

“Kiibo, like Kibou, you know? Hope!” her eyes sparkled.

“You want to name our robot son, Hope?” I asked again, taking another sip of cold coffee. It was nasty.

“Listen, do you have a better idea? I think it’s a great name, if I’m being honest.” She sat down and took her pad of paper and mechanical pencils out. I didn’t have a better name.

“Okay, he can be Kiibo for now, but if I come up with a better name I’m changing it,” I proclaimed, getting up to get a new cup of coffee. 

“You won’t!” she called out, to be met with a couple weak “shut up”s from people in surrounding tables.

 

After weeks of rigorous studying and coffee drinking, we both passed our finals and attended graduation. I sat next to her, most people ignoring the lining up by last name. She pulled a piece of paper out from her robe.

“Look!” she whispered loudly. I held a finger to my lips as she continued quieter and opened up the folded paper, “I brought our robot son to graduation. Isn’t that neat?”

I tried not to laugh, barely succeeding. “He’s not gonna remember it if he’s not physically here, Himi,” I whispered back, making sure to keep making eye contact with the dean’s pulpit.

“No, but we’ll remember it, and I think that’s neat.” She looked at the paper and smiled contentedly. “I can’t wait to meet him.”

 

And with that we graduated, our diplomas in hand and Kiibo’s design in every graduation photo. It’s kind of sad to admit now, but I really didn’t get started on Kiibo until two and a half years after college. To be fair, I had other things I had to focus on, like proving my skills to funders. And planning my wedding.

“I can’t believe Kiibo can’t come,” Himari announced as we walked to the bakery to do a cake tasting.

“I had to get the funding first, I don’t think my mom wanted me disassembling her new fridge to make him,” I replied, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. We wore matching brown trench coats and red noses from the cold. 

“I’m just saying, you could’ve gotten started on his coding, at least! I’m tired of drawing endless sketches of him and never being able to show him!”

“Listen, can you do it?” I replied, pinching her cheek, “I’ll start writing the code after I make the base skeleton.” She sighed and took my hand away.

“I guess that makes sense,” she groaned, slumping her shoulders forward.

“I’ll get started on him right after the honeymoon, I swear,” I said, trying to cheer her up as we made it to the bakery. She straightened up and grinned at me.

“What did you think I wanted to do during the honeymoon? we’re gonna get started on him, of course!” Blush spread across my face.

“I mean most people do other stuff during the honeymoon, you know.”  
“But we don’t have to worry about that since you don’t have genitals, remember?” she teased.

“When are you gonna let that go, Himi?” I sighed as I opened the bakery door. She stuck her tongue out at me as she entered.

 

We had a good time planning the wedding, although it was stressful to juggle that planning and making sure the funders were going to be on board next year. It was through my mothers open kitchen and Himari being herself that I made it through that period of time still sane.

“Dang, you’re lifting 50s? Was it that bad today?” She asked, one week before the wedding. It was going to be held on December 29th. I kept lifting.

“Had to pull out one of my old inventions and show that it was long lasting. It hadn’t been greased in months and I panicked so hard. Luckily Rosa pulled through and we’re secure, but damn that was terrifying.” I put down the weights. “Ow.”

Himari wrapped her arm around my neck from behind and kissed the top of my head. “Rosa’s a champ, I knew you guys could do it.” I chuckled.

“You didn’t even know Rosa was the one that was coming.”

“I didn’t have to.” She stopped to walk around the couch and sit next to me. “All your inventions are great.” That genuine, dazzling smile got flashed at me once again.

“They’re not that smart though, that’s how Kiibo’s gonna be different,” I mused, running a hand through my hair, “He’s gonna learn and simulate emotion and everything.” I looked at her and as her smile grew wider, I felt one grow on my face too. “I’m really excited.”

 

And then we had the wedding. A small affair in a small church with about 30 people total. She invited a lot more friends than I, mainly because I barely had any. It was full of smiles and champagne toasts and our crying mothers. I danced with Himari during the reception with my two left feet, but somehow she disguised it as if I really knew how to dance from the compliments I received after. Soon after, she pulled me aside to the wall and showed me a pocket she’d gotten added to her wedding dress. Inside was Kiibo’s design paper, of course. 

“I can’t wait to get started,” she whispered, holding both of my hands.

“I know,” I replied, smiling.

“We’re gonna be parents!”

“I know.”

And then we kissed again.


	3. The Skeleton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new Idabashi couple gets to work making Kiibo a reality.

I had sent all of the materials I needed to start Kiibo’s skeleton to a PO box close to a cabin I’d rented for our honeymoon. We both decided to make it two weeks instead of the standard one to have wiggle room if something didn’t go as planned… or if we got distracted. The latter didn’t happen much though as she was so ecstatic to finally work on him.

 

“Kiibo, Kiibo, KiiBO, KIIBO, KIIBO!” she chanted as we entered the cabin, her carrying our luggage and me carrying a quarter of the needed materials.

 

“Yep, we’re gonna make the skeleton!” I said as I set the heavy packages down, “After I get the rest from the car, that is.”

 

“I’m gonna make sandwiches first!” 

 

“Okay!”

 

After we finished the turkey and lettuce sandwiches, we began to unbox the materials.

 

“Is this gonna be his arm?” She held up a pipe, too thick for the arms.

 

“No we’re actually gonna cut that up into three pieces and use that for the spine.” I opened up more and more cardboard boxes.

 

“I see!”

 

And the rest of the evening was spent with her giving wrong guesses as to which item was used what purpose, and eventually she began to give wrong answers on purpose. A night filled with laughs was definitely what we needed, or at least what I needed. We fell asleep on the floor that night, our new wedding bands reflecting the light from the ceiling fan lamp.

 

The next morning we woke up sore with materials scattered all over the floor. 

 

“Fuck, did we even do anything last night?” she mumbled, stretching her limbs.

 

“Hey watch your language, he’s gonna learn from us and he’s gonna learn like crazy.” I yawned “Did we bring coffee?”

 

“If you brew it then we did, it's in the black pocket of my suitcase.”  She hoisted herself up on the living room couch, which somehow wasn’t littered with junk. 

 

I got and brewed the coffee while she fell back asleep, curled up on the couch with some blanket that was on the couch before on her. I sipped my coffee and organized some of the haphazard items until she woke up.

 

“Mm, did you start without me?” she mumbled, sitting up and wrapping the blanket around herself, “Meanie.”

 

“I didn’t start without you, I’m just organizing,” I answered, handing her a mug of now lukewarm coffee. She pulled me onto the couch.

 

“He’s gonna be so cool,” she whispered, taking a sip.

 

“You’ve been saying that every day for the past year,” I chuckled, finishing my own mug. 

 

“Because it’s true!”

 

I smiled as she pulled out a sketchbook from under the cushion. 

 

“When did you put that there?” 

 

“When you were getting materials from the car,” she answered nonchalantly, quickly flipping through the pages looking for something.

 

“Should I even ask  _ why  _ you put it there?” I asked, genuinely confused.

 

“So that this,” she found the page she was looking for and showed it to me, “could be a surprise.”

 

It was a new design of Kiibo. The measurements, materials, and base design were all the same, but she’d gotten better at art throughout the years. It was colored gorgeously and painstakingly detailed, this must have taken so much time. He really looked like he could jump off the page at any moment.

 

“Whaddaya think?” she asked, her eyes sparkling. I could almost feel tears prick the corners of my eyes.

 

“He’s wonderful…” I murmured, unable to take my eyes off the page. We were really about to make him, weren’t we?

 

“So, are you finally ready?” she asked again, her eyes looking directly into my soul, “No more putting it off?”

 

Anxiety-induced procrastination was one of my worst qualities, and somewhere along the line she realized this. I have no idea how she stayed so patient along the years. Wait, it was probably through her constant complaining and badgering.

 

“No more.”

  
  


We slid off the couch and began construction, no more excuses or hesitating. I had brought a pretty loud metal saw with me, hence why we were in a cabin out in the middle of nowhere. No one but us knew that this was our honeymoon project, he was going to be a surprise to the world (except the investors).

 

It took about eight out of our fourteen days, but we had assembled the base skeleton, minus the head. We didn’t have the equipment to check if it was going to move properly, but Himari checked everything using her own physical strength and artistic hands.

 

“He’s gonna have such great hand eye coordination,” she stated while checking each finger joint, “Maybe he’s going to be an even better artist than me!” She gasped at that statement and grasped my face, “We’re gonna need to put an easel in his room!”

 

“I don’t know what he’ll be interested in,” I chuckled, “He’s going to be learning so much from his surroundings that we can only guess what he’ll be interested in.”

 

“Well, we’re still putting an easel in his room,” she retorted, letting go of my face and continuing her finger flexibility checks, “He’s going to need a ton of books to learn, plenty of hand-on items for dexterity, and maybe a hairbrush.”

 

“A hairbrush?” She looked at me like I was an idiot.

 

“Yeah, to brush his hair. That nylon can get really tangled up, so he’s gotta have a way to fix it.”

 

I laughed hard and got smacked once again. 

 

In those remaining days, we finished the skull and packed up the remaining materials and our things. We folded Kiibo and placed him in a separate padded suitcase that we brought specifically for him. Even though she knew the plan beforehand, she seemed upset that he was going into a suitcase.

 

“You know, if he ever hears about this, he’s gonna be upset that we did this,” she mused as we both placed his suitcase in the trunk of the car, “he’ll at least want to be placed in the back seat.”

 

“It’s safer for everyone if the suitcase is in the trunk since we can’t buckle it in the backseat,” I noted.

 

“It?!”

 

“I meant the suitcase!”

 

We drove him, very carefully, back to my lab. The entire way, she white-knuckled the dashboard, visibly nervous about Kiibo, but trying to remain optimistic. I turned on classical music and we drove down back roads, enjoying the scenery. Eventually we arrived at the lab and unpacked everything but our suitcases. I carried the suitcase with Kiibo in it and placed it on the work table. My friend, Ren, at the lab looked at it, confused.

 

“The hell you got in there, Idabashi? Did you fake that honeymoon to work on something like we said you would?” He laughed as Himari walked in, her low heels clicking across the concrete floor.

 

“Actually! It was my idea!” she announced, the heads of the few people working turning toward her.

 

“The new Mrs. Idabashi! Welcome!” someone else called out in the back. She waved back with her left hand, showing off the ring.

 

“So anyway,” Ren continued, “Are you still writing everything down to make that book?”

 

“I’m making sure he is,” Himari answered in my place, wrapping  “we’ve already got a book deal set up for two years from now!”

 

“And you’re illustrating?” 

 

“You know it!”

 

“Nice, nice,” Ren murmured as he shifted his attention back to the suitcase on the table, “But seriously, what is this?”

 

Himari and I looked at each other and decided they could know about him. Wordlessly, I opened up the suitcase to reveal a very sparse Kiibo skeleton.

 

“What is this?” Ren asked, confused as we unfolded his skeleton and laid him down. 

 

“This,” I said, pulling out Kiibo’s new design paper, “will be Kiibo.”

 

He looked it over and more people came over to look. For our limited time and tools, he looked pretty well done. The design paper got passed around as everyone admired it.

 

“Like our robot son?” Himari asked the group, as they looked back to her.

 

“Robot son?” Ren looked at me with concern. “Won’t that be kinda, uh, hard to explain if you have biological children?” 

 

Himari’s shoulders slumped as she turned back to Kiibo’s skeleton and stroked the hand.

 

“That won’t be a problem,” she murmured, avoiding eye contact with the group. Someone in the group got the gist immediately and placed a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Hey, we’re always here for you two, and I wish the best for your family. I know Kiibo will be a good child to you two. I can’t wait to meet him.”

 

Himari turned around and smiled, hugging them. “Thanks, I can’t wait to meet him either.”

 

“Now I just have to get started on what I’ve been avoiding since the concept,” I stated, pulling Himari closer to me.

 

“What’s that?” asked Ren. I sighed.

 

“Writing the AI.”

 

Himari gave me a peck on the cheek for luck.  
  


 


	4. The First Boot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Himari and Tetsuya boot up Kiibo for the first time.

Just because I know how to code doesn’t mean I enjoy it very much. I mean, if I hated it I wouldn’t have done it, but I enjoy the physical aspect much more. I like messing with wires and electrical current much more. This specific day, my terminal crashed and I slammed my head against the keyboard. Himari came up behind me with a mug of jasmine green tea and kissed the back of my head.

 

“If it’s any consolation, I know he’ll appreciate it once he wakes up for the first time,” she said soothingly, rubbing my shoulder, “Come on, you need a break.”

 

I groaned in response, and she set down the mug and pulled my shoulders back until I sat up and massaged them, easing the knots out of my tense muscles. 

 

“Come on, get out of that chair, Tetsu,” she pleaded again. I complied and walked to the living room with mug of tea in hand. Sitting down, I took a deep sip from the mug and grimaced.

 

“I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get used to this,” I complained, setting the mug down and rubbing my face with my hands.

 

“The doctor said no more coffee for you,” she reminded me, laying her head on my shoulder. Her hand laid on my thigh and I sighed.

 

“I know. Thanks for giving it up with me.”

 

“I wouldn’t be so evil to taunt you with it every day,” she giggled. She climbed into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Besides, then we couldn’t use decaf coffee as a treat accomplishing a checkpoint.” I put my hand on her cheek.

 

“I’m beginning to think you made me take a break for a more selfish reason,” I teased, squinting at her. She looked away, a huge grin on her face.

 

“I mean, I thought you might need something to clear your head,” she allured, running a hand through her own hair.

 

“Yes, how selfless of you,” I murmured, taking off my jacket.

 

Lets just say I didn’t make any more progress that day.

  
  


But as time went on, I did make more progress, on his AI and on his body. For not studying robotics in any sense, she was a very big help due to her dexterous hands and seemingly boundless energy when working on him. We got the entire upper body wired to move when she suggested we try booting him up for the first time.

 

“Don’t you think it’s a little too soon?” I asked, removing my magnifying goggles.

 

“You have the code set up for a first run through, right? And we’ve wired his upper half, so I don’t see why not!” she almost jumped onto the table. “Come on, please!”

 

She convinced me that it was a good idea, with those sparkling blue eyes of hers. We’d actually made his eyes blue to match hers, and done several checks on the cameras, both in good working order. We weren’t able to make good ears, really, but Himari designed the microphones to look like headphones. It would’ve looked cool if he’d had any of his external plates on, or with his hair. 

 

She ran over to the other side of the lab and grabbed the clunky video camera. “We gotta get this on video! Say hi, Tetsuya!”

 

I gave a small wave. “Hi.”

 

She held the camera and narrated, recording this moment. “So, the date is May seventh, and we’re about to say hi to Kiibo for the first time!”

 

“We have to hook him up first, Himi,” I said, only to be met with a camera lens in my face. 

 

“Then hook him up!” she exclaimed while jumping up and down. I laughed and began the process.

 

“You’re gonna wreck that footage if you keep bouncing!” I yelled from under the table, grabbing the needed wires.

 

“It’ll be okay, its just for the three of us anyway!” she retorted, stopping her jumping, “I can’t wait for him to see these.”

 

“We don’t have to worry about neglect with you around, now do we?”

 

“Nope!”

 

After a few minutes, he was all hooked up, all ready to go. I started to sweat, gripping the work table like it was my lifeline. Himari set the camera down and squeezed my arm.

 

“You can do this,” she whispered, giving me a small hug, “I believe in you.”

 

And I did it.

 

After about ten seconds, Kiibo in his mess of wires opened his eyes and flexed his hands, to be met with Himari’s squealing and me exhaling after holding my breath for who knows how long.

 

“Hello, Kiibo!” she squealed, setting down the camera in Kiibo’s direction and rushing over to him. I followed after.

 

“Himi, he doesn’t even know how to reply yet,” I murmured, sitting him up. He didn’t have control of his legs, but he did have control of everything else. He moved his head side to side, scanning the surroundings. His gaze landed on me last, feeling as if he was looking straight through me.

 

“Who are you?” Kiibo asked, all in one flat tone. I don’t think I could’ve been happier at that moment.

 

“I am Tetsuya Idabashi, although you may call me Professor Idabashi,” I stated slowly and clearly, praying for it to process.

 

“Professor Idabashi,” he repeated in the same tone. It was working. I smiled so wide.

 

“This,” I stated, pulling Himari to my side, “Is Himari Idabashi. You may call her Mrs. Idabashi.”

  
  


“Mrs. Idabashi.”

 

“This is amazing! Amazing!” she squealed in delight, jumping up and down again. “Hello, Kiibo!”

 

Kiibo says nothing in return. She takes a step closer and grabs his hand gently and makes him shake her hand.

 

“This is a handshake, it’s considered a polite greeting among most,” she said with sincerity, looking into his eyes. “I think it’s very nice to meet you.”

 

Kiibo scanned his surroundings again, looking for another person. When there were none, he focused his eyes back on Himari.

 

“Please tell me the appropriate response to this action.”

 

She looked at me and smiled, then back at Kiibo.

 

“Thank you. The response is thank you,” she replied gingerly, letting go of his hand.

 

He attempted a smile back, but it was more like a straight line across his face. I guess neither of us can smile well under pressure.

 

“Thank you.”

 

I stepped up, standing side by side with Himari.

 

“Now, Kiibo, what are the three laws of Robotics?” I asked sternly. If he didn’t get this right, I’d have to unhook everything right there and redo his code.

 

“One: a robot, myself, may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Two: a robot must obey orders given to it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law. Three: a robot, myself, must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law,” he stated perfectly. I exhaled and Himari put her hand on my shoulder.

 

“Good, good,” I replied, “Now the reason why I did not have you say ‘myself’ in the second law is because I have given you flexibility. You are going to emulate the human experience, and if you believe you should gain a beneficial experience by not doing something people tell you to do, you should not do said action if it does not conflict with the first or third law. Understood?”

 

“I understand,” he replied. Himari started bouncing on the balls of her feet again, and I knew she was dying to talk to him more. I allowed it.

 

“You know, I’ve been waiting so long to meet you,” she said, leaning onto the work table on her hands.

 

“I do not understand.”

 

“We have been planning you for about five years now,” she replied, “You took a lot of time, but I’m glad you’re finally here.”

 

“Is five years a lot of time?” he asked. It was his first question, and I made sure the video camera was still rolling. It was. Himari smiled and rested her chin on her palm.

 

“It’s a long time to meet someone you’re looking forward to meeting. Looking forward to something means that you have positive anticipation to do said thing.” She practiced explaining everything before, but it really fit when they were talking to each other.

 

“Right now,” she continued, “we are in Professor Idabashi’s lab. If you want to know about anything, please ask.”

 

They looked at each other for a minute, but nothing happened. I thought he would be more curious, but he wasn’t at the moment. This wasn’t a red flag yet though, considering he was still very new.

 

“Mrs. Idabashi and I will tell you what you need to know, so just ask about anything you do not know about,” I added. He looked at Himari.

 

“Is there a reason I cannot call you Himari Idabashi?” he asked, and her face lit up with delight.

 

“It is polite to refer to your superiors by a prefix and then their last name. However, there is something else you can call me if you don’t like Mrs. Idabashi.”

 

“What would that be?”

 

“Mom.”


	5. The Development

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Himari and Tetsuya take Kiibo to their home for the first time

Kiibo may have technically been booted up for the first time, but he certainly wasn’t himself. It took a while to wire up his legs, and when I would do so, he wouldn’t talk at all to me. I wondered if something was wrong with the base code, but I checked it again and again and nothing was ever out of place. Something just didn’t make him as curious as expected.

 

Luckily, Himari visited the lab often, bringing me tea and whatever meal I was skipping to work on Kiibo. This day in specific she brought black chai and potato cheddar soup, in separate thermoses.

 

“Hey boys!” she called over, walking toward us, “How’s progress looking today?”

 

“Well, it’s progress,” I stated, rolling my shoulders back from being hunched over, “Ow.”

 

“I told you to stretch more often,” she pouted, handing me the thermoses.

 

“Does working on my body bring you pain?” Kiibo asked, looking at me with that blank face of his. The first question he asked me, two months in, was out of concern for my health.

 

“If I don’t stretch my muscles and joints, they can cause me pain,” I answered. I thought for a minute. “You don’t understand muscles and ligaments though, you don’t have any. I’ll give you a book of human anatomy tomorrow that you can study so you can understand it better.”

 

“That would be useful.”

 

“He doesn’t get inflection still,” Himari noted, leaning on me, “Is it a problem with the voice chip?”

 

“No, we tested that beforehand. He just needs more samples, that’s all,” I thought aloud. Himari gasped, causing Kiibo and I to look at her.

 

“He’s not getting it because we’re going about this all wrong, Tetsuya!” she exclaimed, visibly excited. The loose bun in her hair undid itself and chocolate brown hair spilled over her shoulders.

 

“Explain, please,” I asked, sipping the thermos of soup.

 

“He’s young, so we should treat him like he’s young! Let’s get him some baby books and other things like that! Maybe stuffed animals too?” Her excitement got me thinking about it too.

 

“You might be right…” I murmured, looking back at Kiibo. This might be what we need to make some progress.

 

“Of course I’m right,” she said, knocking me on the skull with her knuckles, “I actually brought a couple of my books today, maybe we can get started! Although one of them isn’t for him.” She looked at me like I should know what she’s talking about. I didn’t know.

 

“I brought the hard copy of your own book, you dip!” she yelled, taking off her backpack.

 

“Oh, that,” I said, eating more soup. It was really good that day.

 

“Don’t you ‘oh, that’ me, you spent years writing it and you’re not even curious to see what it looks like all put together?” she pouted. The cover was an illustrated closeup view of the right side of Kiibo’s torso, with a bit of his arm showing. It was a perfect blend of stylized and realism, as to be expected of Himari.

 

“I’ll take a look at it tonight when I get home,” I replied weakly. She shot up as if she remembered something.

 

“Speaking of back home!” she excitedly proclaimed, grabbing my hand that wasn’t holding soup, “We should take him home with us! You said he’s stable enough for travel, right?”

 

“B-Back home?” I stuttered. This could either go well or horribly wrong.

 

“Come on come on!” she insisted, “we can show him a more friendly environment than,” she gestured to the entire lab, “this.”

 

The lab was awfully grey. Now that I thought about it, not the easiest place to teach a robot about the human experience. My clothing choice wasn’t the most stimulating either, with wearing mostly muted colors. Hm.

 

“You’re probably right…” I mumbled, looking at Kiibo. His legs weren’t finished yet, but if he was carried, he could be taken to the house and set in a chair. If anything went wrong, there  _ was _ the emergency stop button. I looked at Himari. It was time to have faith.

“Kiibo,” I stated, as he looked at me, “Tonight instead of shut-down, I’m going to take you to the place where Mrs. Idabashi and I spend the night. We call it our home. Are you ready to leave the lab?”

 

“Yes, Professor Idabashi,” he stated, attempting a smile. I knew he’d get it someday. I started to fill up with worry, and guess it showed, since Himari wrapped her arms around me.

 

“This will be good for him, just wait,” she whispered, squeezing me tighter. Once she let go, she took a few steps back and pursed her lips. “If it wasn’t you, I’d ask how you were gonna haul him outta here.”

 

I chuckled. “I’m glad you still have faith in my muscles. Besides, he’s only 210 pounds as of now.”

 

“Yeah, and he’s not even finished!” she exclaimed, “He’s gonna be so heavy once he’s actually done, with the plates on and everything.” She sighed.

 

“Don’t worry about it. When I can, I’ll make him more lightweight.”

 

“How much will that weigh?”

 

“If I’m right, only about 185 pounds!”

 

“You say that is if that’s really lightweight....”

 

I finished eating and went back to wiring the left leg. Himari sat close to me and worked on her next book sketches for a while. The sun set and golden light streamed through the lab windows, with my wife giving me a hug.

 

“Let’s all go home, okay?” she asked, although it really wasn’t a question. I hoisted myself off of my stool and stretched my limbs, cracking my knuckles. Himari skipped over to Kiibo and grabbed his hands. “There are so many more colors out there that you haven’t seen yet. I can’t wait for you to see them.”

 

“Why would you have positive anticipation for something I will experience?” Kiibo asked, looking at his wiry hands held in hers.

 

“Because I care about you,” she answered, her face shifting into a gentle expression.

 

“I do not understand,” he replied. He didn’t notice the shift in her facial expressions yet.

 

“You don’t have to yet. Caring about someone means you want what is best for them.” She began to unhook him and I joined in while Kiibo said nothing.

 

I carried him bridal style to the car, miraculously not running past any coworkers on the way. Himari opened the door and I placed him inside and buckled him.

 

“This is to keep you in place if the car stops suddenly, we’re going to be travelling at roughly 40 miles per hour,” I explained as he watched me buckle him in.

 

The three of us drove down the autumn roads as Himari craned her neck back toward Kiibo the entire ride. When we got home, I unbuckled him and carried him inside, setting him down on our little couch in the living room.

“This is where we usually relax after I leave the lab,” I explained, setting a blanket over his legs. He looked around at the house as much as he could from his position. Unlike the lab, warm natural colors made up our decor, seeing as Himari was in charge. Even the kitchen appliances had been painstakingly painted and detailed to match the house.

 

“Relaxing…” he repeated as he looked at me. It wasn’t really a question, but like he was trying to figure out what that meant through the word alone.

 

“The muscles of the human body need rest,” Himari explained, sitting next to him on the couch with a mug of tea in her hands, “and it’s healthy to do a portion of that rest while awake. Resting while awake is called relaxing.”

 

“I understand,” he stated, looking down at his lap. “Is this part of relaxing?” he asked, picking up the blanket with two fingers.

 

“It is for Professor Idabashi and I,” she giggled, pulling the edge of it over her own legs, “When someone relaxes, sometimes their external body temperature can drop uncomfortably, so we put this blanket over our legs to keep us warm.”

 

“I understand that, but I do not understand why the blanket is on my legs,” he added, still looking at the leaf pattern blanket. I sat down on the other side of Himari, placing what was left of the blanket on my own legs.

 

“It’s to make you feel like one of us,” she stated simply, “We’re a real family now, and I want you to feel as close to us as possible.” He attempted a smile, doing slightly better than before, though it still looked forced.

 

“Thank you, Mom,” he replied placing his hands on his legs.

 

“N-no problem,” she choked out, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

 

“You really like it when he calls you Mom, Himi,” I said, turning on the television and wrapping my free arm around her shoulder.

 

“I do,” she replied, snatching the remote from my hands and changing the channel, “We’re watching terrible romance movies tonight!”

 

I groaned, but secretly I enjoyed these cheesy, terrible movies with her. She always laughed so much while watching them that it lifted my mood as well.

 

And like that, we became a happy little family for the first time.


End file.
